Azahar kisses
by evelitan
Summary: The Legends find themselves in Al – Andalus during its best years. They have been sent there for a reason, but let's face it, they will probably create a mess, but this is the night before the actual mission. Oh and just a fair warning, Ava is on board too and there's a lot of fluff.
1. Chapter 1

**Azahar kisses**

 _ **Summary:** The Legends find themselves in Al – Andalus during its best years. They have been sent there for a reason, but let's face it, they will probably create a mess, but this is the night before the actual mission. Oh and just a fair warning, Ava is on board too and there's a lot of fluff._

 _ **AN:** Hello guys! This is my first time writing AvaLance, I am usually a supercorp writer, but I need a break from that show, so I decided to give it a go with Sara and Ava because I really like them together. I am sorry for any and all mistakes, but it's 3:30 am and the inspiration to write just hit me ( apparently the muse of writing isn't in my time zone) :D Well I hope you enjoy it, it's supposed to be a super fluffy one shot, but if you guys like it and decide you want to read more of my scribbling, I already have a few ideas about the second chapter of this story. I´m looking forward for your comments and kudos!_

 _ **AN1** : Okay, just a few historic facts, Al-Ḥakam ibn ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān never had kids with his wife - Rahdia, he had a son with concubine – Subh. I invented his daughter name for the sake of this story._

 ** _Chapter I: Sweet like the night_**

You know how when you're a kid, you're constantly surrounded by new, experiences, sensations and emotions. The first time you tried swimming on your own, using just your hands and feet to tread the water around you. The first time you try to peel an orange and wonder how on Earth your aunt made it seem so easy, the first time you manage to actually tie your shoe laces right. The first time you kissed someone you liked, the first time you felt the snow falling from the grey winter skies and the minuscule snowflakes melting instantly on your skin…

However, when you're an adult, there are not many times life can surprise you with a new emotion or sensation anymore. You have already played in the snow more times than you can imagine, you can tie your shoe laces with your eyes closed… You even perfected finishing your Latin homework in the morning, while brushing your teeth with your left hand, while struggling to make yourself a poor excuse of a sandwich for your lunch break, all the while you were _somehow_ looking for your keys too. See, school did teach multitasking if nothing else. Moreover, in Sara's case, well, she had her fair share of kisses too, with both boys and girls, it was safe to assume that she wasn't from the people who get surprised easily.

Yet, here she was. Standing on the flat rooftop of one of the most famous periods of history, the glorious days of Al-Ḥakam ibn ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān, one of the greatest rulers of Al – Andalus. Four days ago, they had received an anonyms warning, from someone who knew suspiciously well the time ship, about an assassination attempt made on the life of Al-Ḥakam ibn ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān's daughter, Amira. Supposedly the attacker would try to abduct Amira on the night of her twentieth birthday that was tomorrow, but they needed to be there a few days prior to win the right to attend the celebration.

The calif was a man obsessed with his privacy and winning his favor turned out to be more difficult than the Legends had anticipated, but thanks to Zari who somehow managed to woo Al – Hakim with tales of faraway lands and exotic adventures they were invited to entertain the guests for the princess's birthday celebration. It was a good thing the calif had a soft spot for literature and arts because Ray had already prepared his mathematical dilemmas and that always ended with headache for everybody who listened to him. The man was a genius, without a doubt, but the rest of the Legends were allergic to anything that involved math and physics.

Time travel had become something normal for the captain, but there were few rare and precious moments when she'd retire from the group, take a deep breath and ground herself in the moment. Every second was unique and impossible to fully replicate, so whenever she stumbled upon a few moments of spare time (and the Legends hadn't messed up the anachronism even more), Sara would step away from all the noise and just breathe. The Legends were her family, she loved them without a doubt, but they could be a handful at times and even Sara had her limits.

To call this night beautiful would not have made it justice, it was so much more, dazzling, magical, wonderful, new and soothing in a way, downright ethereal. The air was still warm from the bright sunrays that illuminated the skies during the day. The summer was always hot, but the nights were usually cool, now however, there was this sweltering breeze that appeared from time to time, that almost burned the patches of exposed skin on Sara's hands and neck. If it wasn't for the full moon and the stars in the sky, Sara wouldn't have believed it that it was night.

In front of her was nothing but miles and miles of green fields, fields that were stretching as far as her eyes could see and on her left was the sea, the salty and humid air did make her hair a bit more temperamental than usual, but in this heat, she always preferred to keep it in a ponytail. Except, tonight he hair was loose because her scrunchie snapped and going back to the Waverider for another seemed like a waste of time, especially when Amaya could braid her hair like a goddess when she and Zari had finished… talking. Every movement seemed to cause a droplet of sweat to cascade quickly from her neck to her shoulders and using a fan was just making it worse.

"I don't know how people deal with this heat!" – Said a familiar voice behind Sara. It wasn't an unwelcomed surprise, but it was certainly an unexpected one.

Ava had been monitoring the Legends closer than ever after the accident with the Vikings and when she told the captain that Rip had escaped from the Time Bureau, Sara used the opportunity to ask her to tag along to the next few missions. Neither had specified how many missions exactly and to be honest neither cared, at first it was a bit strange having the blonde around the Waverider all the time, but soon greeting her every morning with a cup of coffee and a cinnamon roll had become a very enjoyable routine for captain Lance.

 _"I still don't know how you managed to convince your thickheaded boss to let you stick around, but I'm glad you are here." – Said Sara with a small smile and her ears instantly turned red._

 _The wine was probably getting to her head or maybe the pleasant company made her chatty, or perhaps it was a combination of both factors, but the fact remained, Sara was blushing. The blush was making its way from her ears (yes, that may have been a bit strange, but that was Sara we're talking about after all) and slowly creeping down her cheeks._

 _It was an offer the captain had made a few weeks ago and once things were a bit less chaotic in the Time Bureau, Ava opened a portal to the Waverider with a nice bottle of red wine in hand. The moment Sara saw her, an almost undetectable smile appeared on her face… and stayed there for the entire night._

 _"Well, I explained to director Bennett that the less resources we used on monitoring you guys, the more he can invest in the hunt for director Hunter. Of course, I am supposed to report back if he gets in touch with you and with any unorthodox activities your team does, but thankfully Gary helps me on that front." – Ava said calmly and took a sip from her glass, a drop of red wine lingering on her lips for just a second after she had put her glass down. Ava had her hair down, over her right shoulder, the suit she was wearing was all wrinkled and her shirt was untuck, but Ava still managed to look beautiful._

 _"Unorthodox activity?" – Sara asked curious._

 _"We are not some teenage Wicca group you know?" – She laughed._

 _"Worse. You're legends!"_

 _"Oh come on, you're just exaggerating!"_

 _"Sara, only last week mister Rory was chasing a chicken around the Waverider, screaming, "I'll get you Gallina Blanca!" Mister Snart entertaining Miss Jiwe and Miss Tomaz who had discovered the wondrous properties of certain **green** brownies Mister Heywood had preprogrammed in the food recipe of the ship to get back at Mister Palmer who had lost his fidget spinner!" – Ava was laughing so hard remembering the absurdity of the whole situation that she had to wipe out the tears in her eyes. _

_"If all that doesn't classify as unorthodox activity under normal time travel circumstance, I don't know what does!" – Ava finally managed to take a normal breath._

 _"You are probably right, I should get Gary a mug or something the next time I see him, making us seem normal, even on paper, can be very tricky." – Sara laughed._

 _"And you should probably just call the team with their first names, if you're going to be sharing a bathroom with all of us, the whole Miss and Mister thing is going to drive us crazy." – Said Sara and Ava nodded her agreement. She hadn't really thought about having to share two bathroom with so many people, in all honesty, she hadn't thought much about anything else except having the opportunity to talk in person with Sara whenever she wanted._

For a moment, Sara was lost in the memories, but a gust of torrid breeze quickly made her remember where she was. Turning around, she saw the taller woman standing just a few feet away from her slightly hesitant to come near closer.

"I actually began enjoying it and it has its perks." – Sara said with a small voice filled with honesty.

"Like what?" – Ava asked skeptically, making her way next to Sara, but still facing the fields and not the shorter blonde by her side.

"Close your eyes." – Said Sara with a grin on her face.

"Come on." – Ava was beginning to get nervous. She always hated the trust exercises the Bureau made them do, trusting your partner to catch you while you close your eyes and willingly fall back was just ludicrous. Despite of her initial nervousness, the agent found herself eagerly complying with the instruction and the second she closed her eyes, she felt Sara moving.

Walking slowly and coming right behind her, Sara stood on her tiptoes and put her hands on Ava's waist for balance. She felt soft lips caressing her earlobe and Sara's husky timbre filled her right ear.

"Keep your eyes closed." – Sara instructed and Ava listened.

"Relax, breathe deep. Notice how the scent of the orange blossoms lingers in the air around us, inhale slowly and let the aroma wash over you like a wave. Feel the hot air entering your lungs." – Said Sara. She was talking slowly on purpose, her hands were stroking the agent's arms, dragging her fingers up and down, making sure to scratch softly each time she passed the forearms.

"Deep breaths. Relax." – Sara repeated, but relaxing was the furthest thing from her mind. Sara, the infamous Sara Lance was standing behind her, gently caressing her arms and whispering in her ear, the moon was full above them and illuminated everything surrounding them, the sparkling of the million stars in the night sky trembled and her heart was beating as fast as if she and Sara were sparring with each other and not… relaxing.

The heat was the reason her clothing only covered certain parts of their bodies and not everything, the pants they wore were baggy, but the tops were well fitted. Ava was wearing an all blue outfit filled with sparkling patterns and Sara had opted for violet, but under the brightly pale moon light, their outfits seemed almost identical.

"Feel the stones that are still hot." – Sara said and put Ava's hands on the small balcony wall in front of them.

"Keep your palms pressed." – Whispered the shorter blonde and applied pressure with her own hand on top of the agent's.

"Take one more deep breath and remember the feeling, everything you sense right now." - Sara's voice was still huskier than usual.

Ava could only think of one thing, fire. With Sara pressed behind her, the humid breeze making her hair stick to her neck, the moon shining lustrously…

Ava is not sure how much time they had been standing like that, but after one last deep breath, she opened her eyes and turned around only to find Sara still standing impossibly close to her. For the past two and a half weeks, the touches between them had become electric, literally. Every time they'd touch on the ship, they'd flinch from the static electricity that sparked between them, even the slight brush of a hand left a spark and a loud snapping sound behind. Their nights "comparing notes" had become a ritual they had before bed and it wasn't so much of doing research than just talking, talking about their lives before time travelling got involved. About loving brothers and sisters that they'd never see again, about long forgotten friends and the occasional foe… talking about everything and nothing at the same time.

"Sara…" – Ava had begun talking, but she had no words left to say and now was not the time for words, so she just leaned in a bit closer and Sara happily closed the space between them.

The kiss was soft, tentative at first, unsure, testing, but it quickly escalated into a full-blown passionate kiss, they found a rhythm and patterns that felt so natural as if they'd done it a hundred times before. They parted when their cheerful giggling made it impossible for their lips to stay connected any longer, they were both fools in love and for the first time each one admitted it.

Avoiding the topic when they were with the rest of the ream was easy, denying it had even become fun because they'd always get flustered at the end and just make any excuse to leave, even if it was to "facetime with my cat". However, now, in this very moment… there was no more denying, no avoiding and no excuses.

"I am so happy you finally got the courage to do that." – Ava told Sara with a smile on her face.

"That's the second thing I wanted to do to you from the moment I saw you." – Sara admitted with a wolfish grin.

"The second thing?" – Aske Ava amused.

"My first thought was to fight you, you did have me at gunpoint." – Sara and Ava both laughed remembering the bizarre twist of fate that had led their paths to cross.

"As much as I enjoy being here and kissing you, what would you say if we continued back in my room?" – Sara asked gently, not wanting to pressure the taller blonde.

"Lead the way Captain." – Ava laughed.

The pair quickly made their way down the stairs and through the garden, but just before they went back to the palace, Sara gripped Ava's arm and pinned her to an orange tree that shielded them from any possible prying eyes.

The night was beautiful and Sara wanted one more thing to remember this moment by, she needed to save this happy memory for rainy days because Malus was gaining power with each passing day and nobody knew what would happen. Nobody knew if they would make it or not, if the world itself would make it and that is why they all tried to get the most of every enjoyable moment. How twisted was that you had to collect treasured drops of pure happiness for the rainy days ahead when all you wanted to do is just live your life?

Their second kiss started slow and after the initial giggling, it also continued slow with Sara softly cupping Ava's face. Usually Sara would go for hard and fast, but she wanted to savor Ava, the touch of her skin and the smell of azahar. The small azahar flower Sara had picked from the orange tree that would forever bear witness to the beginning of the greatest adventures in both women's lives, and tucked it in Ava's hair, just above her right ear. Just where her long blonde hair was beginning its cascade down the agent's shoulder and front, that shinning under the moon light seemed like a waterfall of pure gold.

 _TBC_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter II: Remember to turn the page**

 _AN: Hi guys! You have been amazing! I loved your comments and kudos, they all made me continue writing this second and last part of this story. Historically speaking there is nothing true in this part, I'm not basing this on any historical evidence, it's just fiction and it worked for the story (the original characters' names, the stereotypes…) I am thinking of writing more AvaLance, because somehow they became my favorite couple and it's always a pleasure writing with two strong, independent female characters. I hope you like this chapter, it's a little bit longer than the first one and it's still fluffy, but with a bit more of action. I am looking forward to know your opinions and wish you pleasant reading!_

Walking to Sara's room in the calif's palace proved rather difficult when all they wanted to do was kiss each other and giggled like teenagers, it was by pure luck that they stumbled clumsily in Sara's room before waking anyone. Not that anyone could have recognized them, the usually composed and always professional women were currently smiling, laughing and holding hands…

Sara's kisses were teasing and soft, but Ava could feel the other blonde guiding her wordlessly. Ava wondered just how good they would feel a bit lower and the moment the shorter blonde sucked on her neck, the agent's mind went blank. It was no surprise that Sara was a dominant lover, even if Ava had her dominant side too, she was enjoying the moment too much to get technical right now.

Walking slowly to the bed, Sara broke their kiss when she felt Ava's legs hit the bed and looked her in the eyes. Even though they shared clear blue irises, Ava's were more like the shade of the ocean and Sara's were like the skies, like in one of those pictures where you don't know where one ends and the other begins. It was mesmerizing to see the mirrored, dilated with desire pupils, to feel the faster beating of her heart under your palm, to trace her pink lips with your fingertips… to smell the orange blossom in her hair, mixed with the salty sea breeze… to memorize her like that.

Pushing Ava gently on the bed caused the taller blonde to prop herself on hew elbows and it was fascinatingly hypnotizing just how breathtakingly beautiful she looked at this very moment and Sara didn't want to waste a second apart from her. Sara was very graceful, she lowered herself gently on top of Ava, it was like a blanket of comfort was wrapped around Ava and the sweet kisses she continued receiving made her feel so loved that it was hard to believe it was the first time Sara and her had gotten to this point.

"You are so beautiful, Ava." – Sara stopped kissing her for a second, she wanted to make sure that the agent understood what she was saying. She never had problems speaking her mind, but these moments of tenderness were special and only meant to be shared between the two of them. Kissing Ava was addicting and Sara found it very hard to concentrate on her next words.

"I know it sounds crazy, but I feel like I've been waiting for you for a while now." – Sara said and even with the poorly lit room, she could see Ava blushing.

"It's not crazy Sara, spending these past few weeks with the Legends and having you around all the time made me think about this too. You feel familiar. We just…" – Ava was wondering how to put it into words.

"Click." – Sara said smiling and Ava laughed.

"And here I was getting poetic and thinking we were like the yin and yang." – Said Ava and it was Sara's turn to laugh now.

"I don't know, you are a nitpicker perfectionist who likes bossing people around."

"And you are unconstrained improviser who also has a soft spot for leading a team of misfits."

"Touché, your _yin – yang_ theory sounds better."

"Did the great Captain Lance just admitted defeat?" – False mocked Ava.

"No! Okay… yes." – Said Sara and that caused them both to giggle again. This constant game of push and pull between them was one of the reasons their relationship evolved the way it did.

"But only because having you under me is really distracting."

"Is that why you always end up losing when we train together?" – Ava asked.

"Hey, I win every time."

"Keep telling yourself that." – Said Ava with a smug grin.

Sara was not even considering answering that one because the look on Ava's face made all her previous feelings of want and desire surge up again and she found herself stroking Ava's right cheek and kissing her deeply.

Both women lost count of all the kisses and touches during the night, it was impossible to think when strong fingers moved up and down your body and blue eyes traced every single inch of you. It was indeed a sweet night in every sense and for Sara and Ava it was the beginning of something special.

***On the next day***

Sara never needed an alarm clock to wake up, even before her time with the league of assassins she was used to getting up early and start her day, so here she was no with a cup of tea in hand, closing the door to her room behind her.

She remembered her time as an assassin in training, the countless mornings she had spent learning Arabic with Nyssa… Nyssa. Even thinking about that name still tasted bitter in her throat, about everything she was forced to leave behind. Nyssa was without a doubt her true love, or at least that was what she thought until now, truth was she wasn't sure anymore, she lived a life that didn't exactly leave much free time to dwell on your choices.

Remembering the younger daughter of Ra's al Ghul brought tears to her eyes, every time, but as wonderful as Nyssa was, she was not a part of her present anymore or future for that matter. Sara hated how things had turned out, how everything between Nyssa and her ended, but a part of her also knew that obsessing with the past never brought anything good, so maybe it was time to try again. Maybe this time it would be different and looking at the sleeping form in her bed, she really wished this time would be different because opposite from what people thought, her heart was very fragile and it could only handle so much before she completely closed off. Whatever the case was, Nyssa would always have a special place in Sara's heart and nothing could change that, she thought Sara how to love again when she didn't even know the meaning of that word.

A soft snore, brought Sara back to reality. Ava was supposed to be the badass agent who looked like she wakes up three hours before her shift to go over her notes again and prepare some salad or apple slices for lunch. Instead, Sara was witnessing one of the cutest scenes in her life.

Ava was lying on her back with her legs twisted in the covers and her long hair haphazardly framing her face, snoring very softly her chest was raising and falling rhythmically. If it was up to Sara she would've left her sleep all day, but that couldn't happen today. Today they had a princess to save.

"Hey beautiful, time to wake up." – Sara said softly after she scooped behind her and kissed her behind the ear.

"Hey." – Said back Ava, her voice was half grumbling, still consisting of 99% sleep.

"Come on, I have a treat for you." – Sara said and brought the water bottle she had taken with her when she had gone for that cup of tea.

"A treat huh?" – Asked Ava and momentarily opened her eyes, still cloudy with sleep of course, but intrigued and opened none the less. Leaning in for a kiss was a dangerous move, it was very tempting to continue the serenity of the morning awakening just a little bit longer, but they both knew they had a mission to finish.

"You're distracting me again." – Sara pulled back and smiled.

Reaching behind her back, Sara quickly found what she was looking for and taking the bottle in her hand, she passed it to Ava.

"Oh my God!" – Ava almost shouted in her surprise.

"It's so cold! How…? Where did you get it from?"

"There's a river outside the city and since the palace is in the outskirts anyway, the river happens to be a 10 min walk from here. Normally, I'd recommend you hot tea for this weather, but I figured you'd like the taste of the icy water better." – Sara said and saw Ava drinking greedily from the bottle.

"I also put some lemon in, it does wonders in this heat." – Added Sara a bit shy about this detail.

When Ava stopped drinking, she smiled shaking her head, Sara was thoughtful and caring, and amazing, she couldn't hold back the desire to kiss her again. It was an innocent enough kiss this time, her lips were cold from the water and Sara's were hot from the tea… fire and ice, yin and yang in harmony.

"We are definitely continuing this when we get back to the Waverider."

"Definitely." – Smirked Sara and both women got up and started collecting their clothes from the floor around the bed.

"I'm not complaining, but we barely got any sleep last night, how are you so smiley today?" – Asked Ava.

"I dunno. I'm just happy I guess."

"Today is going to be a long day, I just hope the rest of the Legends behave."

"Well I know for a fact that Zari and Amaya won't be much better than us, I saw them going to Amaya's room before I went to the balcony and they were not very quiet either once they were in." – Sara said and laughed.

"Are they still thinking we don't know about them?" – Ava asked surprised.

"Well Nate for sure doesn't know, Amaya is just waiting for a good moment to tell him I suppose. Ray is the happiest and the most oblivious person I've ever met and Rory has been very strange lately, last week I saw him wearing reading glasses when he got out of his room and murmuring something about a plot twist! Reading glasses, Ava!"

They were both laughing now and the light atmosphere made them wish it happened more often, the conversation between them was easy and getting dressed didn't consist of awkward stumbling around in a rush to get out like Sara was used to by now.

"My hair looks like hay, do you think we can go for a quick swim?" – Ava asked and Sara seemed to consider it for a moment, but her answer was already clear.

"The last one there owes a dinner!" – Said Sara and bolted through the door.

"I don't even know where it is!" – Said Ava as she jumped and sprinted after her.

"Then it's a good thing you know I love a peperoni pizza!"

"This dress is itchy!" – Zari complained.

"Well maybe you should've listened to me and chose the green one I offered you." – Amaya said with a smile.

"Don't worry Ze, if we're lucky this mission will be over soon. Plus you look great in it, red is definitely your color." – Ray said and gave Zari a bro pat on the back.

The friendship between Ray and Zari was one of the best relationships to see blossom on the ship lately, they bantered playfully over science and equations and she was the only one who could outsmart him in physics. The young woman quickly took on some additional work around the Waverider too, making her a very promising future engineer.

"Definitely your color." – Teased Amaya with a wink and Zari smiled ten times brighter.

"Rory, could you stop staring at the dancers and go do your patrol rounds already?" – Nate whined over the coms. He wanted to enjoy the celebration too, but until Mick changed places with him, he was stranded on guard in the garden.

"Stop whining, pretty boy." – Rory grunted.

"Guys, focus!" – Sara yelled on the coms.

"Amaya and Zari, go to the stage and start telling the story. If someone makes a sudden move, you would be able to see it better from the elevated platform and inform us. Ray shrink and stay near Amira, at all times, you're her shadow. Nate stay where you are and keep your eyes opened, Mick you're guarding the entrance to this room, If the worse come to pass we'd at least stop the kidnapper from taking the princess out. Ava, I will need you to keep an eye on the calif and the people around him, we don't know how the kidnappers would feel when they fail to get Amira." – Sara gave orders with almost no effort in her voice and Ava looked at her with a strange mix of awe, intrigue, desire and something else.

"And where exactly are you, boss?" – Rory asked.

"Look on your right and count four, Mick." – Said Sara and Rory complied.

On his right, there was another group of belly dancers and when he saw an almost naked Sara, he closed his eyes and without muttering a word went to stand by the door.

"You're welcome to trade places with me if you'd like, Mick." – Sara offered playfully and then it clicked into Ava's mind. Jealousy!

That is what she had been feeling the moment Sara told her the plan. Every man in the room practically drooled over the belly dancers and the black and gold bra and skirt barely covered the parts they were designed to.

After the case with Constantine, Ava had been feeling a bit jealous and even though it was completely irrational and she had no right to be, she still didn't like that man, now she felt the same desire to go and kiss Sara right there in front of everyone. It was basic and animalistic, nothing like the controlled woman Ava was known as and she'd never actually do it, but the fantasy did seem appealing.

"Aren't these people supposed to dress their women with more clothes than usual, not less?" – Asked Ava. Of course, she knew the answer to that question, but Zari decided to have some fun.

"Actually Ava, during the reign of Al-Ḥakam ibn ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān, the rules were quite different. People were more open minded in the past than historians give them credit for, besides, belly dancers always were in another category." – She said.

For a little while everything was going according to plan, the Legends were doing their job, Amaya and Zari were keeping the public in their end of the room entertained, when out of nowhere a group of people jumped from their seats with a loud "Glory to the princess!"

They took the various drums that were left on the ground while the musicians were resting a bit and started playing themselves.

"Captain…?" – Ray was the first one to ask what was going on without actually talking that much, he didn't have to. His voice said it all.

"Wow…" – Said Zari, mesmerized by the spectacle.

Rory had already reached for his gun, but thankfully, he remained cool from the sudden surprise.

"Stay calm"

" _Lalalalalala! Lalalalala! Lalalala!"_ \- The women in the crowd chanted loudly and the belly dancers invaded the space connecting the two rooms. Each of them was dancing, moving her hips in a hypnotizing manner, each body covered in black and gold was shimmering and spinning around as the rhythm intensified.

Soon all the people from the two rooms gathered around them and began dancing. Even Al-Ḥakam was taking a knee on the ground, clapping with his hands and a proud smile on his face while his wife was dancing for him.

"Sara, Amira is moving away from the crowd!" – Said Ray as he held tighter on the small golden crown in the hair of the princess, shrinking down to the size of a fly did have its benefits.

"Ray stay with her, don't break your cover until it's absolutely necessary, Ava you stay with the calif. Rory keep everyone inside the room." – Instructed Sara.

Because of the huge crowd that had gathered in a matter of seconds, it was very difficult for Amaya, Zari and Sara to get to Ray without revealing their powers.

"Sara! Aah!" – Yelled Nate in pain.

"Nate! What's going on?" – Sara Asked worried.

"Someone decked me on the head and managed to sneak in!" – He said, touching his neck and running through the garden.

"Weren't you changed?" – Sara asked incredulous. They couldn't afford to mess this one up.

"I didn't want to attract attention. I would've reflected the light from the full moon like a mirror! Nothing suspicious about a silver man walking around right?"

Sara, Amaya and Zari were desperately trying to make their way through the people, but it wasn't easy.

" _Lalalalala! Lalalalala!"_

"Guys! We're on the balcony, so far everything seems calm out here, but you should hurry up." – Ray reported.

"Ray, break cover! We can't lose Amira!" – Sara yelled, but before Ray could do what he was told, the hooded figure Nate was talking about surprised Amira from behind and yanked the crown from her head.

Sending the golden crown crashing on the floor, Ray was knocked away with it, hitting the ground hard, it was a good thing he was wearing his costume. At least he thought that way until he heard a very distinctive _crack_ from inside his suite.

"Sara, my core compressor is broken! I can't go back to my normal size without it and if I don't put in a spare one I'll just continue shrinking until I enter a quantum state!" – Ray said. The armor had absorbed the force of Ray hitting the floor, but with the core compressor broken and the stabilizing agent slowly oozing out from one of the cracks Ray was to put it simply, screwed.

"Great." – Sara murmured sarcastically under her nose.

"I got the princess, Amaya and Zari, use your totems and get Rey quickly back to the Waverider." – Said Ava.

"Got it." – Said both women in union. Amaya touched her totem and a panther spirit took over her, guiding them more effectively through the crowd and a moment later they got to where Ray was standing on the balcony. It was Zari's turn now to use her air totem and get them to the Waverider as fast as she could.

"I'm going after the princess." – Ava said over the coms.

"Ava, wait! I'm almost there! Mick, lock the door and get in here!" – Sara basically shouted, trying to speak louder than the music surrounding her, but Ava didn't listen, she just went running to the balcony and Rory began making his way to them. It was ridiculously difficult to protect Amira when at least sixty people around them were dancing and cheering very closely to each other.

The moment Ava stepped onto the balcony, she saw Amira standing there with the attacker's hand on her mouth, preventing her from shouting. The figure was standing next to the wall that separated this balcony terrace from the next one, the architecture in this period was very nice, but also extremely vexing in these cases when you were trying to rescue a princess from getting kidnapped because all the buildings were connected!

"I'm right under the balcony, if they decide to run and jump I'll get them." – Nate said.

Ava came rushing through the people and almost tripping when she stepped on the balcony and Sara came only seconds later. The ex-assassin threw the dagger she always wore on her, hitting the hooded figure in the thigh.

"Aaah!" – The kidnapper screamed in pain with a pitch much higher than the one of a man.

Sara and Ava were just about to run to the princess, but then the least expected thing happened. Amira took a smaller in size dagger from inside the cloak of her kidnapper and threw it at them, barely missing Ava, but effectively shattering two pots with various plants. Distracting the two women with a flying knife turned out to be a useful delaying tactic because while Sara and Ava rolled on the ground, Amira took her kidnapper's arm, guided both of them over the balcony wall, and on to the next room's balcony where the palace ended and the only way was jumping and going through the garden.

"What the fuck just happened?" – Sara asked when she got up from the ground.

"Why would she help her kidnapper?" – Mick asked confused.

"More importantly how did she know the kidnapper was wearing a dagger in their cloak?" – Ava asked.

"Okay, so Amira is working with them for some reason, we still have to catch them before we could ask them anything." – Sara said.

"Nate, I don't think they'll risk jumping when one of them is injured, get Mick with you, start searching the rooms on the ground level and we'll search here. We'll meet at the stairs." – The captain instructed.

Ava and the captain ran after Amira and the kidnapper, jumping the balcony wall as well.

"Sara look. The kidnapper is losing a lot of blood." – Ava pointed to Sara's dagger that laid discarded on the floor, next to a trail of fresh blood drops on the floor that were leading outside the room.

Stepping carefully, not making any noise at all, they walked closer to where Amira and the other woman were. Something wasn't right here, Amira wasn't afraid of that woman, her hand was resting carefully on an olive skin face and her voice was trembling with concern.

"I told you this was a bad idea Farah, I am so sorry. I didn't know these people would intervene." – Amira looked at the ground.

"Okay, play time's over. What is going on here?" – Sara asked the two girls that were kneeling in front of each other as she came to view and this time Ava followed behind with the captain's dagger in her hand, still glistening red with blood.

"Please don't hurt her!" – Said Amira and quickly got between Farah and Sara.

"Who is this kid? Start talking Amira." – Sara tried again and nodded to Ava to put away the weapon. She knew that when Nate and Mick finished with their search they'd come running to them and judging by the strength with which Amira was holding Fara's hand and her reaction… this matter required more tact than force.

"Look, we are not going to hurt you, but we need answers because she just tried to kidnap you Amira." – Sara spoke softer this time.

"Kidnap? Yes. Hurt, never." – Farah spoke through gritted teeth.

"Okay, okay… Farah and I have been friends, best friends since we were children, she's my father's councilor's daughter." – Amira began speaking and turned around for a moment to look at Farah.

"We were inseparable, she was the one who taught me how to read and fight. We would go swimming every chance we had and even though she's a couple of years older than me, she never saw me as a child like everyone else did. The day she came extremely worried to my room, a week ago and told me that her father had arranged her marriage, I felt angry and sad rather than happy and overjoyed for my friend." – Amira talked and a tinge of sadness coated her voice.

"You love her." – Ava spoke behind them.

"We love each other." – Said Farah. Something in this girl reminded Ava of how she was when she was younger, barely talking more than the necessary, always concise and direct…

"We cannot be together in the palace. My father's concubine is already pregnant and the mystics are sure it would be boy, the moment my brother is born, my fate will be sealed as well and I'm not exactly the husband type." – Amira said, making Sara and Ava laugh at that last part. Yes, it all seemed rather familiar.

"So you decided to escape together. But why pretending to be kidnapped?" – Sara completed the story.

"I couldn't imagine seeing the only person I love and can't live without, miserable, trapped in a loveless marriage. We live in a society where love is seen as a whim, where your own family would kill you because your definition of love is different from theirs. I love my parents, but I would never be Queen and my father is nothing if not honorable, to openly escape with Farah would've been a great shame for the royal family. So Farah came up with the plan and I agreed, I'd always pick her any day over an empty throne seat." – Amira explained and for the first time in a while, the Legends remained quiet, listening.

"Okay, that's getting too sappy." – Said Zari over the coms.

"I think that was sweet." – Ray chipped in.

"I totally forgot you were able to hear us." – Sara admitted.

"Why do you think Nate and Mick hadn't barged in already?" – Zari asked again and Sara rolled her eyes ignoring the obviously rhetoric question.

"Ray, you ok?" – Sara asked.

"Perfectly fine captain. And in human scale, but that was a close call." – Answered Ray still smiling, perhaps Ava's theory that Ray was the human form of a sugary rainbow gummy bear was true after all, but his constant optimism was one of his best features.

"Look, I know things are difficult, but your father will search everywhere for you and with her wound, you won't get too far away."

"We are at least going to try." – Said Farah, pushing herself up with tremendous effort and Amira nodded in agreement.

Usually this situation would require a lot of thinking and planning, but Sara managed to communicate her thoughts with Ava with only one look before a loud scream was heard from the balcony where the celebration was. It was only a question of time before someone got out and saw the broken pots, the discarded crown, the blood drops… the obvious signs of a kidnapping.

"Okay, we'll help." – Ava cave in first. This was one mission, director Bennett wouldn't get a report on.

"We will?"

"You will?"

Various voices sounded at the same time, all of them surprised, but when the music in the room next to them stopped, it was time to move, the locked door would only hold that much.

"Yes, Farah won't get too far, the cut on her leg is a serious one and if we stay here in the state that we are all in… nothing good is going to happen anyway. " – Sara said.

"Nate get up here, we'll need help with Farah. Mick make sure nobody follows us, please. Amaya, Zari and keep the Waverider ready for instant take off the second we are all inside and Nate meet us at the med bay. Let's move guys!"

The orders were clear enough and the Legends ended up doing what they did best, they were sent to fix an anachronism that they thought was connected with saving a princess, it turned out they ended up doing exactly the opposite. They wouldn't know until much later that this was exactly how things were meant to be, how they had to screw up their mission and in doing so, save two lives that history would not remember, for there was never even a mention of princess Amira bint-Al Hakim ibn ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān or Farah bint Al-Amat al-`Azīz.

As soon as the wound on Farah's thigh was healed, the Legends dropped the pair off in small mountain village in the Christian territories and got back to their business. They would be safe from the calif there and the people seemed friendly enough.

"You made a good call, Sara." – Said Ava while they were heading to the office to check on the status of history.

"I guess Zari is rubbing off on me, remember how she designed an entire program to find loopholes in history?" – said the captain and Ava laughed.

"She is a very smart young woman." – Ava commented.

"And still a great pain in my ass, but I must admit, thanks to her software we can permit ourselves to make these small changes without disturbing the course of history."

"But then why would we receive a notice about an anachronism that turned out to be the actual way of history unfolding?" – Ava asked.

Sara opened her mouth to say something, but then a time portal opened and Rip walked through.

"Miss Lance, what in the bloody hell were you doing in Al – Andalus when I explicitly told you not to interfere?" – He asked trying to speak calmly, but failing completely.

"Rip?... How did you know about that?" – She asked surprised, his visit was the last thing they expected to happen.

"I left you a note right on the table in the cockpit! Didn't you read it?" – He asked surprised.

"That was you?"

"Of course it was me, since when do you get anonymous signals delivered personally to the ship?"

"Huh, I knew that seemed strange." – Sara admitted.

"But anyway, you only wrote "Al – Andlaus, 800AC, princess Amira kidnap. Don't…"

"Interfere! On the other side of the note was written "interfere" meaning "don't interfere" with the event Sara." – Rip explained.

"How was I supposed to know that? Leave a bigger piece of paper next time! Mick didn't say anything …"

"Ah, so it was mister Rory who found my note…okay, that explains it. Well, at least you managed to get the girls away from the palace and that's the most important thing."

"Rip, what is going on, the Time Bureau searching for you like crazy." – Sara asked not so much as a captain, but as a friend.

"Should I be expecting marching soldiers taking me back to prison?" – Asked Rip, half-ignoring Sara's question and looking directly to Ava.

"I'm just here to help the Legends with their missions now that they are a few teammates short." – Ava assured. At first she was ready to activate the alarm on her time courier, but then realized that Rip had no chance of convincing the Time Bureau to let him free and they needed every advantage they could take to fight Mallus. Even if one of these advantages was a rogue, slightly crazy, ex director of the greatest institution in the world.

"Good, they can use the help." – Rip said finally.

"I am doing my best to prevent Mallus from recruiting more allies to his cause, but that means I don't have time to supervise the time line anymore and sometimes with all this time altering, false anachronism alarms show up. Be vigilant Captain Lance." – Said Rip and opened a portal to his next destination.

"Hey! Next time you decide to stop by, just talk to us, don't leave tiny notes around." – Sara told him.

"Yeah, I learnt my lesson." – Said Rip and walked through the portal, leaving Ava and Sara looking at each other before they burst out laughing.

***Later that night on the Waverider***

"I must admit, the view from your room in the palace was beautiful, but this bed is just the best." – Ava said as she was lying in Sara's bed.

"I agree." – Sara chuckled. It was good to be "home".

"I'm glad today ended the way it did, these girls deserved to be happy. I know it's in obvious breach of protocol, but they deserved a chance at happiness." – Ava talked and remembered how Amira was holding Farah's hand while Gideon was working on the young woman.

"We all do." – Said Sara and moved closer to Ava, kissing her slowly, enjoying the soft touch of their lips.

"I didn't expect to cross paths with director Hunter so soon though." – Ava admitted.

"Yeah, I saw you flinch and grab your wrist."

"Sorry, instinct. I am not used to not following the rules."

"Well, I am glad you turned out to be a quick study then."

"I am an excellent study, but aren't you forgetting something miss Lance?" – Asked Ava and Sara laughed.

"Yeah yeah, I know. A promise is a promise." – Said Sara and jumped from the bed.

"Just don't make me watch Penny Dreadful again. I can practically recite the script by now." – The captain requested and made her way to the kitchen, leaving Ava to choose another TV series to watch, even though she seemed to enjoy this particular fiction TV show, _a lot_.

"What do you fancy tonight, Captain Lance?" – The automated voice of Gideon sounded in the kitchen.

"A Hawaiian pizza and a bottle of a light red wine please Gideon."

"Oh dear, did you lose another bet, captain?" – Gideon asked and began working on the food while Sara laughed, the AI had taken a liking to teasing the Legends, but she was part of the group as well.

"Turns out longer legs are an advantage when you're running in a race." – Sara quipped still surprised at how fast Ava could actually sprint.

Gideon was quick and efficient in every calculation she ran and every program she designed, if she was human Sara would have proclaimed her the best cook in the whole universe too because the pizza was done with the perfect amount of toppings on top and it smelled heavenly.

"Thank you Gideon." – Said Sara as she took the platter with the pizza slices and the wine to her room, only stopping for a second before she knocked on the door to her room. She had to add one last thing, a little azahar flower was placed next to the wine bottle so that it could be the first thing Ava saw when she opened the door.

Yes, it was cheesy and sappy, and Sara would never admit doing it, but the smile on the agent's face when she saw the azahar flower was worth it. They were worth it.

 _The End_


End file.
